The Cob Gallery will be selling off the artworks, notebooks filled with lyrics and ‘a bureau with inscribed messages carved and in blood’, insisting that ‘the most sincere representation of this well known figure is the one he offers of himself.’

So, a gimmick for gullible Libertines fans, or a chance to acquire the work of one our generation’s most gifted creative talents?

The last time Doherty exhibited paintings - in 2008's Art of the Albion show - one critic dismissed painting in blood as a distraction and leveled that old chestnut 'they're what any four-year-old can do' at him.

The difficulty with Doherty has always been in separating his public image from his talent.

When you look at him do you see a drug-addled poseur, or the boyhood poet who, beneath it all, is a true artist ?